


My hero

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Flufftober [16]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, M/M, Vet Aaron AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27042607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Flufftober day 16 Kemonomimi (Animal Ears/Tails)
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: Flufftober [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947490
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	My hero

**Author's Note:**

> ok, so, today's prompt was kind of a difficult one. Robron with cat ears or something just ain’t it for me (and also kind of difficult to fit into fic) so I went with literal animal ears/tails and reworked/finished a fic I started in 2017.

Aaron’s life was pretty much perfect. He had a job he loved, a boyfriend he loved even more, a nice house he bought with said boyfriend, and a family that was (for the most part) supportive of his relationship.

There was one thing missing from his picture perfect life though...

A dog.

“Hey, how was work?” Robert asked as Aaron walked through the door. “Is it just the two of us tonight?”

Aaron smiled. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d brought his work from the clinic where he worked as a vet home with him.

“Yeah sorry to disappoint.” He joked and walked up to Robert to kiss him hello. “The last two kittens were adopted out today. Paddy took them for Leo. So you can still visit.”

Robert rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the pan on the hob in front of him while Aaron grabbed a beer from the fridge and hopped up on the counter.

“It was a quiet day at the clinic today. But the police needed a vet at a puppy mill. Paddy let me go.”

“And you didn’t bring any of them home with you? I’m so proud.” Robert teased.

“Shut up.” Aaron shook his head laughingly and took a sip from his beer. “There were so many of them. Dalmatians. All locked in old horse stables.” He said, turning serious.

“How bad was it?”

“Most of them were in an alright condition considering. A bit skinny and filthy but nothing too horrible. Lots of fleas though. They were all taken to the shelter in Leeds. I think I might go volunteer there on weekends. See how they’re doing.”

Robert groaned.

“No, come on Aaron, I like my quiet Saturday lie ins.”

“I know.” Aaron said, slightly confused, as he took another drink. “Which is why I said I might volunteer. As in I alone. You don’t have to come along.”

“And let you loose in an animal shelter on your own? I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“What? Why not? What do you think will happen?”

“You and your big heart filling this house with dogs given half the chance.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Aaron said, only half joking.

“Come on, we talked about this. We both work full time, that’s not fair on a dog.”

“We have a big garden, both our families live close, Liv or Vic could walk them, or they could come to work with me.”

“And do what? Assist you during surgeries?” Robert asked, tapping Aaron’s leg to make him move so he could serve up their food. “Wait, they?”

“Well… if we get two they could play together, right?”

\---

“No luck with the boyfriend then?” Matty, the vet tech at the clinic Aaron worked at, asked him while he updated patient files a few days later.

“Not really.” Aaron sighed.

“You’re not splitting up are you?” Vanessa interrupted. “I didn’t set you up with my friend so you could dump him.”

“What? No. We’re fine. We’re just… having a difference of opinion.”

“So you’re fighting?”

“No. We’re not fighting. It’s just. Those dogs from the puppy mill from the other day? I tried to talk to him about maybe adopting one… or two… but he doesn’t want a dog. Or well… he doesn’t think it’s fair on the dog because we both work.”

“He’s got a point there.”

“Not you as well.”

“What?! He’s right. You know training a puppy is hard work. And it’s not like you can just take it to work with you and train it between surgeries.

“I know.” Aaron sighed. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“I thought you’d be used to it by now.” Vanessa joked.

Aaron rolled his eyes.

“You should’ve seen them though. They were so friendly despite all the horrible stuff they’d been through…”

“They’ll take good care of them at the shelter. And make sure they go to a good home. You know puppies are always adopted out quickly.”

“I know. It’s just that we’ve got this big house with a garden… and we don’t have kids yet…”

“Yet?!” Vanessa asked but Aaron ignored her. That was a conversation for another day.

“It would be nice. And with half the family living just around the corner, there would always be someone to walk them if needed. And Rob can work from home…”

“So you want a dog but you want your boyfriend to take care of it?” Matty asked, amused.

“Well it’s not going to happen anyway, is it? He doesn’t want it and I’m not just going to spring a puppy on him.”

“Maybe you could show Robert some pictures? Or take him to meet the dogs at the shelter?”

“Don’t give him any ideas.” Vanessa warned him.

“I already thought of that.” Aaron admitted. “But he’s right. You’re all right. We both have busy lives, it wouldn’t be fair on them. Not right now anyway.”

The rest of the day went by quietly and uneventful and with Vanessa taking care of the patients, Aaron busied himself doing odd jobs around the clinic they normally didn’t have time for.

About half an hour before closing, Robert arrived to pick him up to go home, like he always did on Fridays when he finished early.

Unfortunately at the same time two RSPCA inspectors came rushing in, one carrying a dog, while the other opened doors and held up an IV bag.

“We found her near a busy road.” The first explained. “We think she might have been hit by a car.”

Everyone sprang into action.

“Treatment room one is cleaned and restocked.” Matty said, directing them to the right place, while Aaron quickly checked the dog over as they walked.

“No visible injuries?”

“No but we’re pretty sure she’s pregnant and her hind leg is broken. We gave her fluids and something for the pain.”

“We have another dog in the car.” The second inspector told them. “A male, quite aggressive at first but calmed down some when we got him in a crate.”

“Anything wrong with him?” Vanessa asked.

“Not as far as we could tell but we haven’t been able to properly examine him. And to be honest, I don’t fancy my chances taking him out of the crate without knocking him out first.”

“Alright. I’ll deal with that. Matty, you go help Aaron.” Vanessa ordered.

“Shouldn’t I call Paddy to come help?”

“No time. Just go.” Vanessa said and turned to Robert. “I need your help.”

“What? Me? You do realise I’m not a qualified vet, right?”

“Yes, but you’re here. I need you to distract the dog so I can sedate him.” She said as she grabbed a syringe and needle and some kind of vial.

Robert did his best to help her and the three of them managed to get the male dog knocked out and into the clinic.

Matty came rushing into the treatment room.

“Aaron took the other one into theatre. He has to deliver the pups by c-section.”

“Ok, you help Aaron, I’ll examine this one and come help out too.”

“Alright. But are you sure you don’t want me to call Paddy?”

“He won’t be back yet from the conference. It’ll take him too long to get here. We’ll just have to make do.”

Matty nodded and then turned to Robert.

“How are you with blood?”

“What? Why?”

“We need all the help we can get in there.” He said and all but dragged Robert with him to the scrub room outside the OR. He showed him how to properly wash his hands and helped him put scrubs and gloves on.

“But I’m not a vet. I don’t know what to do.” Robert protested.

“I’ll tell you.” Matty promised. “Now come on.”

In the almost three years they’d been together, Robert had visited Aaron at work plenty of times and even seen him work and do what he loved, yet he’d never actually been in this part of the practise, and he’d never seen Aaron perform surgery.

“Rob?” Aaron looked up briefly when he recognised his boyfriend’s voice. “What are you doing in here?”

“I figured we could use the extra hands.” Matty explained. “You really have to sit Paddy down and look through the applicants for the new vet position when he gets back.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.” Aaron promised and focused on the surgery again. “Ok, I’m about to open the womb and take out the pups. I need you to be ready for them.” He announced a few minutes later.

Matty handed Robert a towel.

“We’re ready.”

“Wait, what do I do?”

“The pups are asleep too because of the anaesthetic, so you need to wake them up and get them breathing.” Aaron explained. “Matty will show you how. The first one is coming right up.”

Matty stepped forward with an opened towel in between his hands and carefully let Aaron put the tiny puppy in there. He turned around as he wrapped the towel over its tiny body and started rubbing it.

“You get the next one.” He told Robert. “Just hold it in the towel and rub it to wake it up and get the lungs working.”

“And don’t be afraid to be a little rough. They can handle it.” Aaron said as he placed the second puppy in Robert’s hands.

“I don’t want to hurt it…”

“You won’t. Just rub its back like Matty’s doing. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

Robert had never believed his boyfriend less but still did as he was told.

In the end, they managed to safely deliver five puppies and Aaron fixed up the mother’s other injuries and stitched her up.

“Can she look after the babies now?” Robert asked as he and Aaron carefully put the mother in a kennel to recover.

“Yeah, most likely. We’ll just have to wait for her to wake up properly, and keep the pups warm for the time being.” Aaron explained. “That’s what the heating pad is for.”

“Don’t they need feeding?”

“They do. But they can wait a while until everyone has recovered.” Aaron said and started taking off his surgical gear. “They might need fostering for a while though. Mum might need some help looking after them.” 

“There’s five puppies, Aaron. Five. We don’t have room for six dogs.” Robert said, sensing what his boyfriend was getting at.

“I know… but it’ll only be temporary. Until we can find them good homes.”

Robert raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“And you helped deliver them. They would have died without us. All six of them. Don’t you want to see them grow up? Make sure they go to good people?”

“Yeah… I suppose so.”

“You saved lives today.” Aaron smiled and wrapped his arms around Robert’s waist, leaning in to kiss him. “My hero.”


End file.
